Written by Ron Hitley, Hornets 24/7
DALLAS MAVERICKS
Recap Rewind: The Phoenix Suns are proving to be a nasty bump in the road for the Mavericks, who had reeled off nine consecutive victories until they arrived in Arizona on Sunday. Their last loss had come on March 14th in double overtime against the Suns, and this time Phoenix cruised to a 126-104 win. The Mavs also had some difficulty earlier in the week, beating both the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks by a combined four points.
Notable News: The Mavs still sit way atop the NBA with their gleaming 61-12 record. They can still reach the 70-win mark, but they need a clean slate the rest of the way... Plenty of coverage of Mavs-Suns today. Eddie Sefko tells us of the Mavericks' struggles to contain Amare Stoudemire, while Art Garcia focuses on how the Suns slowed Dirk Nowitzki on Sunday... As expected, the Mavs have signed 44-year old Kevin Willis to a 10-day contract... Dallas have picked up a few niggling injuries. Erick Dampier sat out the Suns game after injuring his shoulder against the Knicks on Friday. Against Phoenix, Nowitzki tweaked his ankle a couple times and Josh Howard needed four stitches to close a cut above his left eye.
Fast Forward: The Mavs stay on the road for Tuesday's meeting with the Sacramento Kings, followed by a trip to Denver on Friday to play the Nuggets. On Saturday they are back in Dallas to play the Portland Trailblazers, and next Monday sees them host the LA Clippers.
